Correct me if I am wrong (which I probably am)... don't you have to convert your music files in order to use them on the IPOD?
No, not whatsoever, in fact, the only IPOD that you can (voluntarily) do this on is the clip-on Shuffle
*... And you can convert them on-the-fly, if you so choose. I wish this was available on the nano, because I'd like to store more music, but it's not. All my music is MP3 and it goes straight to my iPOd that way... now, I only wish that iPod supported lossless FLAC.
That is why I didn't even look at any Sony's. I swore off Sony after my minidisk! I had to convert the files just to put them onto the minidisk...took way too long!
Forget sony... Atrac is a joke, and their DRM mindset is one too... Any company that essentially installs a
Root Kit (Sony Link) on your pc when you play a DRM infecected CD is just not to be trusted... They had some really nice players out there, with LCD screens, but, sony is just a big mess... W/ Ipod I just transfer and go... I had a Shuffle 2.0 and returned it for a Nano 4gig 2.0 and I haven't been happier... Syncing and music control is great (except for a few thing's I'd change here and there)... You can even get Japanese podcasts synced to your ipod.
I want something simple to use. Drag and drop type of stuff as far as loading the music is concerned!
That really is the ipod in a nutshell... I say this telling you that I loathe Apple the company, but they really did hit the nail on the head w/ the ipod... especially I love the nano series, so small and usefull... you can even use it as a usb drive!
And the itunes software is very simple and easy... A while ago I thought to myself, why do I need a portable music player... I'd been used to cd players, but once I got my Nano... I can't imagine being without it.
*Of course you COULD convert your entire library (on any ipod device) to AAC ***IF*** you wanted to, but, why in the world would you do that...
pps. Atrac was Sony's big selling point for minidiscs... Somewhere I think, I even have an atrac capable cd-player... but Neither do I want to convert my music catalouge to Sony's ghastly format, nor do I want to wait for them to be converted on-the-fly... This is why Apple portends that you can cram 2000 songs on certain ipod models, because they are basing their standards on a paltry 128kbps aac encoding... pshaw...
While the enitety of the encoding community is encoding their mp3s either in the near perfect sounding "preset-standard" 'lame' encoder setting, or baring that, using lossless flac, Apple, (much like w/ quicktime), sticks with it's crappy 128 aac format... And why would you shop for music in that format? (Interestingly enough, Warp records, a techno/experimental records label sells ALL of their music in LOSSLESS drm free FLAC encoding, and V/Vm, well, they just give away their tracks after a while....)
Why would you shop for music in .wmv format for that matter as well... As Jobs has stated, it's the record companies, not the vendors that are holding back lossless DRM free downloads... but the record companies need to get over it, they've lost the war.
emm Creative is really the same as the Ipod..... It has really a lot of capabilities. It is easy to use.
Most players are basically "the same", they all play music, but saying that the Creative devices are the same as an iPod is both obviously incorrect, and missleading... They may be easy to use, (I don't know, I've never tried one), but from specs I've read they are entirely different in ergonomics, features, syncing etcetera...
I again, hate to say it, because I really do loathe Apple computers for their elitest attitude, but there is a reason that iPods have the biggest user base, they're simply feature/cost superior to most players... But don't take my word for it, go out and read comparison reviews. They're out there.
ps. I know this is pointless, but you never call YOURSELF -chan, -san, or anything else like this in Japanese... (kids do it though... I think.. before they know better) It's a suffix that others use to refer to you, not how you refer to yourself in Japanese, I don't much mind, but I thought I'd let you in on the mechanics of the language.
